Full House Secrets? You Got It, Dude

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Was Mary-Kate Olsen thrilled to become famous as one of the youngest Tanner children on Full House? Absolutely not!

Oh my gosh, can you believe Mary-Kate Olsen was Michelle Tanner?! It’s so iconic! She and Ashley basically were that show, starting when they were just babies – like, nine months old! – and they played her all the way until they were nine years old. But I just read that sometimes, little Mary-Kate actually wanted to tell the show’s creators to stop making her do stuff! Can you imagine?! It’s crazy to think about, considering how much we all loved her as Michelle.

On their podcast, How Rude, Tanneritos, Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber recently discussed whether directors on Full House and Fuller House had a preference for working with one of them over the other, and explored the interesting relationship between them.

Jodie Sweetin, known as Stephanie Tanner from the show, said there was a time when the producers preferred working with one actress over the other. However, she clarified that this was mostly during the early seasons of the sitcom, which first aired on September 22, 1987.

Mary-Kate didn’t enjoy being on set, but Ashley was much more easygoing, basically shrugging it off. That was how she handled it.

As Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen grew older, their personalities didn’t change much. In fact, Jodie noted that Mary-Kate sometimes seemed less enthusiastic about requests to film, and wouldn’t always reply with her usual cheerful “You got it, dude!”

Jodie confirmed that’s just how they’d react. Ashley would probably say something casual like ‘Okay, whatever,’ and Mary Kate would likely refuse to participate.

Andrea, who played Kimmy Gibbler on both the original sitcom and its sequel Fuller House, explained that sometimes actors would choose to film a particular scene based on personal preference. She said, “They’d want to do a scene if it was more enjoyable for them, even if the other actor didn’t mind which one they did.”

Still, everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there were some treats for the girls. 

Jodie explained that the directors carefully planned the scenes where the twins ate sweets. They had to make sure both girls ate the same amount because they worried the actresses would get upset if it seemed one twin was getting more treats than the other.

That’s just a taste of the fun facts the cast has revealed! Get ready, Full House fans, because we’re sharing even more behind-the-scenes stories about the classic Friday night show.

Although Full House is now remembered as a classic, heartwarming family comedy, its creator, Jeff Franklin, initially planned to include more stand-up comedians alongside Dave Coulier, who played Joey Gladstone.

His initial idea was a sitcom called House of Comics, focusing on three comedians sharing a house. However, when ABC indicated they preferred shows similar to Family Ties and The Cosby Show, he adjusted the concept.

Originally, Bob Saget was Franklin‘s top pick to play Danny Tanner, the father of three in the show. However, Saget was already committed to another job at CBS’ The Morning Program, preventing him from taking the role. As a result, John Posey played Danny Tanner in the first pilot episode.

After Saget lost his job, Franklin hired Posey and gave him a role. Posey later appeared in popular shows like Seinfeld, ER, NCIS, and more recently, Teen Wolf and How to Get Away With Murder.

The character of Danny’s brother-in-law was initially named Adam Cochran in the first draft of the show. However, John Stamos didn’t feel the name fit, so it was changed to Jesse Cochran. Later, after the first season, Stamos requested another change – to Jesse Kastopolis – to reflect his Greek background. The show explained this switch by saying Jesse had been using Cochran as a stage name to create a more rockstar image. Apparently, no name is cooler than Cochran!

Many sets of twin babies tried out for the part of Michelle Tanner, but Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen won the role because they were the only ones who didn’t cry during the auditions. When you’re filming, it’s important to avoid babies who might fuss and disrupt the scenes.

Initially, Stamos wasn’t impressed with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It turned out their calm behavior during the audition was a bit of a surprise, as they actually cried quite a bit at first. He revealed in 2015 that they were even briefly swapped with another set of red-haired twins, but those girls didn’t do much better, ultimately leading to the Olsens getting the part. He confirmed the story was true.

Okay, so this is amazing to me, but apparently the show’s creators deliberately tried to hide the fact that they were actually using two babies for little Michelle Tanner! Can you believe it? For like, seasons and seasons – seasons two through seven, to be exact – they just credited them as one person: ‘Mary-Kate Ashley Olsen.’ It was this whole secret! Then, once Mary-Kate and Ashley were, like, HUGE stars – everyone knew them, obviously – they finally changed the opening credits to ‘Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen’ in the last season. It’s just…the dedication to the bit! I’m obsessed.

As Mary-Kate and Ashley grew older, it became simpler to distinguish between them, and the show’s producers thought about using just Mary-Kate to play Michelle. Surprisingly, John Stamos stepped in and insisted they keep both twins on the show, refusing to let one be fired. It’s amazing how things changed after just a few seasons.

You know, it wasn’t just the Olsen twins who stole everyone’s hearts on set! Their little sister, Elizabeth Olsen, quickly became part of the family too, visiting us all the time. It was so sweet! She even had a little cameo as ‘Girl with Flowers’ in one of our episodes back in ’95. It was a really special moment for all of us.

If you watch the first season carefully, you’ll notice a funny detail: the mannequin in Joey’s room always wears the same shirt as Joey himself in each scene. This running joke only lasted one season, and it makes you wonder – why did Joey bother dressing the mannequin in the first place?

If you assumed Dave Coulier invented his famous “Cut. It. Out” catchphrase on his own, or that the Full House writers came up with it, you’d be wrong. Coulier has confessed he actually borrowed it directly from a friend.

Before the show, while performing as a comedy duo with his friend Mark Cendrowski, Cendrowski had a bit where he’d play a charming character and jokingly tell women in the audience, “You’re in love with me, now stop it!”

In a 2014 interview with Buzzfeed, Coulier explained that he admired a joke Bob Saget told and told him he planned to use it someday. Saget playfully protested, saying it couldn’t be stolen. Coulier then used the joke as his signature bit on the Nickelodeon show Out of Control, and later brought it with him when Full House began, where it became a memorable part of his character.

Following a season three episode where the child actresses were shown as adults, Dave Coulier married actress Jayne Modean, who had played the grown-up Michelle. They married in 1990 and had a son, Luc, that same year, but divorced in 1992.

I’ll never forget when Lori Loughlin first appeared on Full House! Before everything that happened, she was just Aunt Becky to me, and honestly, it’s wild to think she almost wasn’t a regular! I recently read that she was originally only supposed to be on for six episodes in the second season, as a love interest for Jesse. But the producers saw the amazing chemistry between her and John Stamos, and they just had to keep her around. Thankfully, they did – I can’t imagine the show without her!

According to Scott Weinger, who spoke with the Huffington Post in 2012, his character Steve was originally intended for just a single episode and wasn’t expected to become a recurring character later in the series.

He remembered being hired for a single episode of the show, where D.J. was supposed to be babysitting but wanted to go on a date and brought the kids along. Then, the producers decided they wanted to introduce a boyfriend for D.J. as a recurring character the following season, and they offered him the role. He was thrilled, of course.

Jodie Sweetin is the only main cast member of Full House who didn’t need to audition. After appearing on the sitcom Valerie (also produced by Miller-Boyett), producer Franklin was so impressed that he offered her a role on Full House, believing she was a perfect fit for the show.

Both Dave Coulier and Bob Saget brought personal experiences to their roles when Joey moved in with Danny. Coulier had actually stayed with Saget years earlier – shortly after they met in 1979, he accepted Saget’s offer to stay on his couch while visiting Los Angeles. The main difference? Coulier only stayed for three weeks, unlike Joey, who seemed to permanently move into the Tanner family’s home.

Everyone knew Bob Saget’s comedy was much edgier than his role on Full House suggested. It turns out he and his co-stars, John Stamos and Dave Coulier, were always joking around and getting into mischief on set, just to make each other laugh, even when they weren’t filming.

Bob, John, and I were always getting into trouble with the mothers on set, Coulier explained on Oprah: Where Are They Now in 2015. We didn’t know then that the child actors could watch us on monitors in their dressing rooms.

The actors playing the three male leads didn’t have much chemistry at the start of the first season, so a trip to Las Vegas was organized during their break to help them connect. Unfortunately, Bob Saget, who was married at the time, couldn’t go, leaving John Stamos and Dave Coulier to make the trip together. They bonded so well that the writers started frequently pairing their characters, Jesse and Joey, in scenes together.

Throughout the show’s 193 episodes, only three actors – John Stamos, Dave Coulier, and Jodie Sweetin – appeared in every single one. Bob Saget would have made the complete list, but he wasn’t in the very first pilot episode.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve always loved Full House, and it’s funny to think about where they actually filmed! While the show is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, they rarely shot on location there. In fact, they only filmed one full episode in San Francisco – it was in Season Eight, called “Comet’s Excellent Adventure,” and it revolved around the hilarious search for their dog, Comet, when he ran off!

The script called for settings that were difficult to recreate on the show’s Burbank soundstage, so the actors traveled north for a few days of filming.

The show filmed a special episode at Walt Disney World, and D.J. playfully imagined Steve as Aladdin. Interestingly, Dave Coulier, who played Steve, actually dressed up in Aladdin’s costume, which was a funny nod to the fact that he originally voiced Aladdin’s character in the 1992 animated movie.

As a longtime ‘Full House’ fan, I’ve always loved Danny Tanner’s obsession with cleanliness! But it’s funny – if you watch the very first season, you actually don’t see that right away. It really kicks in during season two. In fact, there’s this one episode in the beginning where Danny, Jesse, and Joey are total messes and their moms have to come help them get things sorted out! Talk about a change – and a bit of a continuity goof, honestly!

Just like D.J. and Steve on the show, Candace Cameron Bure took Weinger to her real-life prom, too.

Okay, let’s clear up a common misconception! As someone who gets asked about this all the time, I can tell you the dog you know as Air Bud wasn’t actually Comet for the entire series. While that talented pup did make a cameo in one episode to show off some basketball skills, it was a different, equally adorable dog who played the Tanner family’s furry friend for most of the show. It’s a fun little behind-the-scenes fact!

When Full House was most popular, both Stephanie and Michelle starred in their own book series. Stephanie’s series had 33 books, while Michelle’s had 40. Later, a 14-book series called Full House Sisters focused on their relationship. Finally, a four-part series, Full House: Dear Michelle, was created based on an advice column Michelle wrote for her third-grade class.

What’s the Russian equivalent of saying “You got it, dude!”? Back in 2006, the American TV show Full House was licensed to a Russian network called STS for a local adaptation. The resulting show, called Topsy-Turvy House, closely followed the original story but made adjustments for Russian culture. It first aired in 2009 and continued for two seasons.

After ABC unexpectedly ended Full House in 1995 following its eighth season, there was a try to revive the show on the new WB network. However, the plan failed when both John Stamos and Candace Cameron Bure chose not to participate.

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2025-12-01 22:18